Top 10 facts you didn't know about Champagne

The first reference to a “Champagne socialist” was in 1906

National Champagne Week has begun and continues until October 7. Details of events can be found at nationalchampagneweek.designmynight.com, but meanwhile, here are some bubbly facts.

1. The first reference to Champagne in English was by Samuel Butler in 1663 in his poem Hudibras.
2. The first reference to a “Champagne socialist” was in 1906.
3. James Bond drinks Dom Pérignon Champagne in at least eight films but is inconsistent about his preferred vintage.

In 2014, the UK imported 32.7 million bottles of Champagne. That’s half a bottle per person

4. The only Ian Fleming novel in which he drinks Dom Pérignon is Moonraker.
5. The longest recorded flight of a newly-popped Champagne cork was 177ft 9in.
6. Marilyn Monroe once famously took a bath in Champagne. It is said that 350 bottles were used to fill it up.

The longest recorded flight of a newly-popped Champagne cork was 177ft 9in.

7. The pressure caused by the bubbles in a bottle of Champagne is three times that of a car tyre.
8. The French may have invented Champagne but the English physician and cider maker Christopher Merrett devised its fermentation method...

9. ...Merrett also in 1662 invented the bottles needed to hold Champagne without exploding.
10. In 2014, the UK imported 32.7 million bottles of Champagne. That’s half a bottle per person.